Friendship Rekindled
by tattoohero
Summary: Shepard contacts surviving N7 about their squads during the Reaper War. One N7 stops by Shepard's office to answer Leia's questions. *Inspired by ME3 MP* Set a year after "New Beginnings"


** Friendship Rekindled**

February 2188

Captain Leia Shepard is in a meeting with Alliance brass about an idea she has about opening the N7 training to the other species. The brass is open to the idea, but they want Shepard to contact the other species to discuss it with them. She has spent the past ten months reading over reports from many N7 operatives during the war. Many lead multi-species units and Shepard wants to know how that worked out. She sent out a request to all the N7 operatives who are still active and she's heard back from over half of them. So far, the feedback has been positive.

Besides Shepard giving the brass her idea about the N7 program, she has also detailed all the repairs to the facility. The repairs are on schedule and due for completion by the end of March. Admiral Steven Hackett says, "Thank you for your report on the status of the Villa's repairs, Captain. We await your N7 report after you contact the other races."

Captain Shepard salutes the Admirals and they salute her back before their holo forms disappear. "Shepard, I do have one more thing to tell you. After hours of petitioning and debating, I am happy to inform you that you're being promoted to the rank of General. It will become official in a day or two."

Leia uses every ounce of will power she possesses to keep her composure. Little more than a year ago, she was promoted to Captain, now General. This promotion is unexpected, but she's happy to receive another promotion so quickly. "Thank you, sir. This is...unexpected."

A slight grin appears on Hackett's face. "It's well deserved, Shepard. Congratulations, General. Hackett out." His holo disappears.

Shepard sits down at her desk stunned. General Shepard. A rank she never expected to reach. It makes her decision to stay in the military that much more fulfilling. She starts to contact Liara to inform her of the good news, when Leia's assistant, Corporal Lazik, comes over the comm, "Captain, ma'am, there is a Staff Commander Thomas here to see you."

"Send her in, Corporal," says Shepard. The door to Shepard's office opens and Staff Commander Marcy Thomas enters. The red-haired woman grins at the light blond-haired woman entering her office. "Long time no see, Marcy. It's good to see you." Leia offers her hand to her old friend. A smirk appears on Shepard's face when she sees someone she's not seen in a long time.

Shaking Shepard's hand, Marcy says, "It's been far too long, Leia. It's great seeing you again. I'm great and you?"

Leia points to the chair, "Please have a seat, Commander. I'm great. What brings you here?"

Marcy sits as ordered, "I'm here to answer your questions about the war, Captain. You sent out a message a few weeks ago about it. I'm on leave and thought I would stop in to see you, so we could get caught up."

Leia says, "Sounds good. I only had a few questions. You didn't need to come in, Marcy."

Today is full of surprises. First, she gets a promotion to General then an old friend shows up out of the blue. Leia smiles at her friend. She has to think about how long it's been since they've seen each other. It's been over five years that much is certain. After they both earned their N7, they lost contact with each other over time. She lost contact with just about everyone including her mother once she became a Spectre and receiving the vision from the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime.

"I can leave if you want, Shepard. If you're busy, we can catch up later," says Staff Commander Thomas.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed woman starts to get up from her chair when Leia says,"Marcy, please stay. I'm just surprised to see you. Mind if I take notes? I do have a reason for my questions."

"No, ma'am, I don't mind. Ask away." Marcy sits tall in the chair like any senior Alliance would sit.

Leia rolls her eyes at Marcy, "Stop with the ma'am shit, Marcy. We've been friends for far too long and I didn't order you here." She grabs a data pad, so she can take a few notes if Marcy says something the other N7 didn't. "First, thank you for your time and I'll try to keep this brief."

"Yea, yea, what do you have rattling around in that head of yours, Leia? I've heard things from other N7s about your questionnaire," remarks Marcy.

"I have an idea, yes. I have a few more people to talk to about it before I give my final proposal to Alliance brass. What have you heard?" asks Leia. She tilts her head to the left and gives Marcy a curious look.

Grinning wide, Thomas answers by teasing her old friend a little, "Oh, come on, Leia. That would be telling and a lady never tells." Marcy laughs then continues, "Nothing bad, I can assure you. I heard you were asking about the squads we lead during the war. That's it. I always ended up with the most mixed squads."

"What do you mean by mixed?" asks Leia as she listens carefully to what Marcy has to say. It sounds like Marcy has a few interesting stories to tell.

"I commanded people of all races and all skill sets. It was a very interesting experience, Leia. Probably not that much different from your squads. I think the most interesting unit I commanded was the geth pyros. How in the hell did you get the geth to work with us as allies?" asks Commander Thomas.

"By trusting them. When I was going after the Collectors, one geth unit was on a derelict Reaper. It sniped a few husks and called me by name. Then walked away. We found it disabled near the core I needed to destroy, so we brought it on board and I reactivated it..." Shepard pauses briefly with a grin on her lips.

"You did what? You brought a geth on board the Normandy and then reactivated it? What the hell for?" asks Marcy, who is absolutely stunned.

Leia leans back in her chair and rubs her neck, "Yea, well, it probably saved our lives and if Legion wanted me dead, I would be dead. Plus it had on a piece of my N7 armor."

"My fucking god, Leia. You're crazier than I thought. I would have left it," says the blue-eyed woman with her blond hair in pony-tail down to the middle of her back. "Got something to drink around here?"

Shepard goes over to the mini-fridge and grabs two bottles of water. She gives one to Marcy. "It's all I got, so don't ask for liquor. I don't keep that in my office. If you want to come over for dinner, we can talk and drink at the same time. Be warned though. I have a two-month old and she the cutest baby you'll ever see." Leia shows Marcy a picture of Liara and Kaja that was taken a few weeks ago when they were walking through Campo de Santana.

Thomas looks at the picture and a bright smile appears on her face. "Oh, I must meet the family. I'd loved to come over for dinner. So, tell me about this geth you seem to be friends with. I'll say this about the pyros I commanded, they listened to instructions and killed a lot of Reapers and Cerberus troops." Marcy opens the bottle then takes a drink.

Leia sits back down before continuing her story. "I reactivated it because it was friendly and talked to me. I killed many geth on Eden Prime and during my hunt for Saren, but never once did any unit ever speak words I could understand. This one spoke to me, Marcy. The Normandy had an AI named EDI and she put up an extra firewall before I reactivated it. It explained how the geth splintered into two groups. The group he was not part of the group following the Reapers and wanted to help in the fight against them. I helped Legion destroy the heretics."

"Legion? Who named it Legion?" asks a curious Commander. She leans forward with her elbow on her thighs and her chin on her hands.

"EDI did. Then it recited a passage from the Bible and thought it was the perfect metaphor for him and we called it Legion since." Leia sips her water. Remembering how she yelled at Han'Gerrel and ended a three-hundred year old war only to annihilate the geth and EDI with her decision to destroy the Reapers.

Marcy shakes her head in amazement. "We've known each other for almost two decades. I thought maybe some of the stories about you were a little exaggerated, but maybe not."

Shepard chuckles at the comment. "Some of it is exaggerated, but I have done some high risk or as some would say, crazy shit during the war. So, Marcy, tell me more about the squads you were commanding and what you were doing."

"I think we all did crazy shit in the war. We had to do what was necessary. I had like I said the geth pyros for a few missions. I remember this one krogan who would biotic charged into groups of enemies then start melee everyone. It was a sight to see until one of those screeching asari creatures picked him up and killed him. Fucking banshees. I hated hearing those things. They biotic jump right on your ass and if you're not quick enough they would kill you instantly. Which the krogan found out. I'm sorry, I forget his name." Marcy shivers when she thinks about the banshees. They even screech as they die and that is what bothered her out the most. Watching one die and hearing it still shrill that ear-piercing sound.

Shepard remembers Liara's reaction to seeing them for the first time while investigating the Ardat-Yakshi monastery. Leia takes notes about geth pyros and krogan in the squad. "Names are not important, Marcy. How long did the krogan serve with you?"

Marcy pauses to think about how long people served with her. She never evacuated from a mission with the same amount she left with. She always lost someone and after a while, she just pointed to them and gave instructions without calling them by name. Because of her infiltration skill and leadership, Staff Commander Thomas and her squad got the job done. She is honored to have worked with so many different species from all corners of the galaxy.

Marcy sips on her water. "I can't say. I lost people on every mission and after a while, I didn't bother learning anyone names. Bad leadership, I know, but the only thing I cared about at that point was completing the mission and the Reapers and Cerberus didn't make that easy. And I can only imagine what you were doing."

Newly promoted General Shepard grins at Staff Commander Thomas. Leia asks, "Want to see what I was doing? Or part of one mission anyway."

Marcy leans back in her chair, curious to what Shepard is referring to. "Sure, what is it?"

Leia moves from chair, motions for Marcy to follow her. She leads the Commander across the facility to a building with several room with different combat simulations. The hardest simulation and the one only available to anyone with an N6 or N7 is the newest sim and one Shepard, herself, had programmed. "Here, Staff Commander, try this simulation. Lieutenant Lin bring up Rannoch."

"Yes, ma'am, bringing up the Rannoch sim now," replies Lieutenant Lin. He turns to Commander Thomas and hands her a different looking weapon. It's a copy of the gun Shepard used to paint the target on the Reaper for the Normandy along with the entire quarian fleet to aim at.

Marcy looks at Shepard and all she sees is an impish smile on the General's face. "Ah okay," says the Commander as she takes the weapon from Lt. Lin. She looks at the weapon then asks, "What is this, Captain?"

Shepard keeps the impish grin on her face. "It's the weapon I used to take out a Reaper on Rannoch. This sim is what I did during the war. You paint a target on the Reaper while dodging the Reaper's beam. It can be done, but I'm the only N7 to do it so far. And no N6 has completed it."

Shaking her head at Shepard, Marcy looks at the weapon again. Staff Commander Thomas is always up for a friendly competition against Shepard. More times than not, Shepard won. She enjoys the challenge and Shepard is always good at providing a challenge. This sim seems no different. "Okay, what am I aiming at?" asks Marcy as she puts her hair in a make-shift bun

"The Reaper's firing chamber. It's a weak point. You paint the Reaper the best you can then the quarian fleet plus the Normandy will shoot at it from orbit. You have to paint a target I do believe five times before the fleet is able to destroy it," replies General Shepard. She's given the N7 more info than she had that day on Rannoch. She had no idea how many hits it would take to kill it and feels lucky to get through that mission in one piece. She did get both quarian and geth fleets when all was said and done and that's the most important thing.

"Okay, I'll give it a try. You say no one has gotten through it?" Lucky for Marcy, she's wearing her casual Alliance uniform. She asks, "Wait, no armor?"

Lieutenant Lin answers, "No, Commander. Armor is useless against the Reaper beam."

Shepard chuckles, "I was wearing armor when I did it on Rannoch. But the Lieutenant is right, wearing armor during this sim won't matter. It's you versus a Reaper. Lieutenant, do you have Staff Commander Thomas logged in?"

"Yes, ma'am. Sim is ready when she is," answers Lt. Lin.

Marcy nods to Shepard then enters the simulation. The door behind her closes and the landscape on Rannoch appears. In the distance a downed Reaper is getting back up. As it gets back on its feet, Thomas paints a target on the Reaper. The Reaper's firing chamber aims at the ships in orbit and not the human on the ground. The fleet nail the target and staggers it. She keeps moving from side to side not sure what the Reaper is going to do next. It locks it target on the human on the ground.

Marcy rolls to her left while attempting to paint a target for the fleet to aim for. A second round from the fleet nails the Reaper. Commander Thomas thinks only three more to go. She dives to her right then rolls backwards to evade the Reaper's beam. She paints another target and the fleets nail the Reaper for the third time. Two more to go. With every hit from the fleet, the Reaper gets closer to the person painting the target.

Feeling the Reaper's beam getting too close to her, Marcy rolls to her left twice then paints the target for the fourth time and the fleet's guns hit the Reaper again. It's staggering more, but it's right on top of Staff Commander Thomas, but she stands her ground and paints the target, having faith the fleet will kill it. Before the Reaper can activate its weapon, the fleet's weapons destroy the Reaper. Breathing hard, Marcy with a few loose strands of hair in her eyes looks at the dead Reaper and mumbles, "Take that, fucker."

There is a loud cheer from everyone watching on the monitor. Staff Commander Marcy Thomas is the only N7 besides Leia Shepard to successfully defeat the Reaper on Rannoch. Marcy exits the sim room and hands the gun back to Lt. Lin. "You did that on Rannoch, Captain? That thing was right on top of me before the fleet destroyed it."

Leia pats Marcy on the back, "Congrats, Commander. You're the only one to successfully complete this sim. But you almost got nailed. Nice dodge, it would have hit you.. It's challenge for a reason. To prepare people for anything. And yes, I actually did that during the war. You can ask Liara about it when you meet her later. She was with me for every mission after I found her at the Mars Archives."

Marcy winks at Leia when she says, "I know, which is why I rolled away from it. Oh, don't you worry, Captain, I will ask her about it." She also has a cheeky grin on her face as she fixes her hair.

"I still have a few more questions for you, Commander. If you'd follow me back to my office, we can continue our talk," comments Shepard.

The two N7s walk back to General Shepard's office. As they walk, Leia shows Marcy the upgrades to the facilities. Commander Thomas is very impressed with the newest training tools for the recruits. Too bad it's taking them longer to earn the N7 than it did before. The off-planet training is what holding up the training to move up the N rankings. Until the relays are fixed, the off-planet training will continue to take longer than normal.

"You know, Leia, I never thought I would see you sitting behind a desk. Let alone take over the Villa as CO. It does suits you though," says Marcy as they walk back into Leia's office. The blond-haired woman sits in the same chair she was sitting in before they went to the simulator room.

"You know, Marcy, you're not the first person to tell me that. I actually enjoy being stationed here. I get to go home every night to my family and things couldn't be better," remarks Shepard as she sits on the corner of her desk.

Marcy grabs the water bottle she left on the desk and drinks what left. "What else do you need to know, Shepard?"

"How did everyone get along in your squad? Did the turians get along with the krogan? Did people work well with the geth?" asks Leia before she sits in her chair, so she can take notes.

"Believe it or not, Leia, everyone was so focused on defeating the Reapers, we didn't have time to think about anything else. I'm sure you and the Normandy's crew were doing the same thing. I think you had bigger fish to fry though," answers Marcy with a grin on her face. Seeing Leia again after so many years has brought joy to Commander Thomas. She has missed her friend, but both had their duties to perform. They knew when they earned their N7, they couldn't keep in touch like they did before. Marcy is sure Shepard feels the same way. They were best friends not more than a decade ago. Leia's face did brighten up when she walked in.

Marcy is ready to retire and wants nothing more than to rekindle her friendship with Shepard before she leaves the Alliance. It's the reason she didn't respond to the questionnaire until now. She wanted to see Leia in person and see how much the first human Spectre has changed over the years. Marcy knows she has changed quite a bit since becoming a N7 and the war made her harder. Shepard seems to have gone the opposite direction. Maybe it's the family life she's leading, but the blond-haired N7 officer thinks Shepard has gotten softer. She still wouldn't want to piss Leia off. She's seen Leia pissed off more than once and it usually ended poorly for those who pissed her off.

Shepard says in her most sarcastic tone, "Really? Bigger fish? Hell, Marcy, I fried the biggest fish in the damn galaxy." Her tone returns to normal. "I had a lot of sleepless nights too. Don't think I didn't." She almost tells Marcy about the nightmares, but they're not as close as they once were and she'd rather keep that stuff close to home.

"Shit, Leia, I don't think anyone got much sleep once the Reapers invaded. I just wish the higher-ups would have listened to you after the attack on Eden Prime in '83. That's water under the bridge." Marcy waves her hand to dismiss her comment about Alliance brass.

"Tell me this. How many different races did you work with? And do you think they would work together without being at war with the Reapers?" asks Leia.

"I had like I said before a few krogan and geth pyros. I also had an asari commando unit. We held on to a communication station for two days before more troops arrived for support. Cerberus was hell-bent on taking over the station and no way was me or my squad letting those bastards have anything. The longest member of the squad was a turian, his name is Bactitus. He's a good soldier, he ended up going back to a turian squad."

Thomas gets up and grabs another bottle of water from the mini-fridge. "Mind?" asks Marcy before she opens it.

"Not at all, help yourself," answers Leia.

"Thanks. I'll be honest, I worked with every race with a military. The batarians actually did their job, but didn't talk much to the humans. I had a volus for one mission. I felt bad for him when his suit exploded from what ever those Cerberus phantoms did. Did you notice they were all women and very agile? I'm fairly certain you dealt with Cerberus troops too." The blue-eyed, blond-haired N7 sips on her water with a cocky smirk.

"Yea, I noticed. I also read a few data pads left behind by a few troopers when rescuing the students on Grissom and they were targeting some of the students for different programs and one was the phantom program. Some of those could have been kids. " Shepard puts her ankle on her knee as she talks to Marcy.

Marcy presses her lips together in disgust at Cerberus for taking kids and turning them into phantoms. "Damn, I didn't know that." She wants to say something else, but questions if too much time has passed for her to be blunt with Shepard. A decade ago, she would just say it. Now, she'd rather not risk it. Shepard seems to have changed over the years. She starts thinking, but then who hasn't?

Leia knows Marcy well enough to know she has more to say. If the roles were reversed, she would say something. "I know you want to say something else, so say it, Marcy. We're not strangers and I'm not going to get mad at you."

"Do tell me how and why you worked with Cerberus. I need to understand. When I heard you were with them, I couldn't believe it. No way would the Shepard I know ever work for a group like that." Thomas' tone says help me understand.

Shepard answers the best she can, she isn't sure if anyone really understand the things she's has seen and done since Sovereign's attack on Eden Prime. Her life forever changed that day. "The last thing I remember was the Normandy blowing up. I woke up on a Cerberus station while it was under attack. Me along with two other Cerberus operatives survived the attack and left that station to another one. I thought I was meeting with the Illusive Man face-to-face, but it was a vid meeting." Leia pauses and leans closer to her old friend.

"Marcy, it was two years later. The Illusive Man told me about the colonies being taken by the Collectors. I went to the Citadel and talked to Councilor Anderson and the Council. Neither were helpful. I was reinstated as Spectre, but that was just a gesture on the Council's part for me saving their lives. Once I blew up the Collector base beyond the Omega-4 Relay, I cut all ties with Cerberus. They tried to shut down the Normandy and EDI had blocked their access then flooded their servers with seven zetabites of data." Leia leans back in her chair, but never takes her eyes off Marcy.

"Seven zetabites? The Normandy's AI did this? You really trusted EDI? I know what happened on Luna. I don't know if I can ever really trust a VI let alone an AI," remarks Marcy in shock.

Leia rubs her forehead before saying, "EDI was the VI program on Luna. What ever Cerberus did when they created EDI, they did it right. She became self-aware when I was taking out VI on Luna..."

Marcy interrupts, "You've got to be kidding? You are kidding?" By looking at Leia, she knows Shepard is being serious. "You're not kidding are you?"

Shaking her head, Shepard says, "No, I'm not. There wasn't anything I could do about it." Leia moves from her chair to the other side of the desk. She leans against it. "Cerberus rebuilt me. Don't ask me how, because I have no idea and the one person who could answer that died on Horizon, but she helped me find their base of operations by placing a tracking device on Kai Leng."

Staff Commander Thomas listens to Shepard. She gives the General a soft smile. "I'll bite, what did Cerberus do that made EDI so different and trust worthy."

Leia glances over to the clock on the wall. It's getting late in the afternoon and Shepard is thinking about leaving the office earlier than normal and finish her talk with Marcy at home. "I'm ready to head home. She grins at Marcy, "Ready to blow this joint, Commander? I'll tell you more about EDI on the way home."

"Absolutely, Captain." Marcy stands with her right arm points at the door, "Age before beauty." A cheeky grin appears on the blond-haired woman's face.

Laughing at Marcy, Leia says as she smacks Marcy on upper arm. "One lousy week. Let's go. I'm sure you'll like the apartment." Shepard informs Corporal Lazik she's leaving for the day before the two officers exit the main building heading to Shepard's skycar.

During the drive to the apartment, Leia explains why she trusted EDI. Marcy isn't sure if she could trust EDI like Shepard did, but thinks she understands why. It sounds like Cerberus did one or two things right, but that doesn't negate the horrors they conflicted on humanity and the galaxy. One thing Marcy is glad Cerberus did was bring Shepard back and build another Normandy. The closer Shepard gets to the apartment building, Marcy asks, "Don't tell me you live in this area?"

"Yea, I do. Too fancy for ya, Commander?" teases Leia as she descends from the driving lane to park the skycar on the roof's parking area. Shepard notices Liara's car is parked in its assigned space. "Huh, Liara's home early. I hope nothing is wrong."

"Wouldn't she contact you if there was something wrong?" asks Marcy as they enter the building.

Leia hits the five button on the elevator touch pad and the elevator descends to the fifth floor. They walk down the hallway to apartment 5-C, Leia swipes her key to unlock the door. Dr. Liara T'Soni sits in a chair in the living room looking over a data pad when Leia and Marcy enter the apartment. Shepard walks over to T'Soni, places a soft kiss on her cheek then says, "Liara, I have someone I want you to meet. An old friend I haven't seen in years. Marcy Thomas. Marcy, this is Dr. Liara T'Soni. The real savior of the galaxy." She kisses Liara's cheek again.

Liara stands, so she can greet Marcy. The asari shakes the blond-haired human's hand while she says, "It's nice to meet you, Marcy. Can I get you anything?"

Shaking Liara's hand back, Marcy smiles then replies, "Beer if you have one."

"I'm going to change clothes. Make yourself at home, Marcy." Shepard walks to the bedroom and leaves Liara and Marcy alone. She changes into a pair of baggy shorts and sleeveless t-shirt. Leia peeks in on a sleeping Kaja in her crib before she joins Liara and Marcy in the living room.

Marcy looks around the living room. The Ilos painting grabs her attention along with the Prothean artifacts in display cases. Liara brings Marcy a beer and a beer mug from the freezer. "Oh, thank you, Liara. This is a very lovely apartment. I take it you decorated it and not Leia." The N7 officer takes the beer and mug. She pours the beer into the glass. Liara takes the empty can and puts it with the other recycle materials.

"Yes, I did this room anyway. Leia decorated our bedroom," replies Liara. The asari sits back down in her chair. While in the kitchen getting Marcy her beer, Liara got herself a glass of red wine.

Pointing to the artifacts, Marcy asks, "What are these?"

"They're Prothean. Things I've collected while I was an archeologist," answers Liara with a hint of pride in her voice.

While Marcy and Liara get to know each other, Leia is busy watching Kaja sleeping. Leia leans down to kiss Kaja's cheek when the baby starts to wake up. Her ocean-blue eyes brighten when she sees her father in the room. Kaja starts making cooing sounds when Leia picks her up. First thing Shepard does is check to see if her daughter needs a new diaper. Of course she does, thinks Leia as she puts Kaja on the changing table.

After changing Kaja's diaper, Leia picks her daughter up and walks into the living room. "Guess who decided to see who stopped over?" Kaja makes happy noises while holding on to Shepard's finger.

Commander Thomas turns her attention to baby Kaja in Leia's arms, "Oh, isn't she precious. She has your eyes and her mom's freckles. What's her name?"

"Her name is Kaja," answers Leia

"Beautiful name. Ancient Greek meaning pure, I do believe. Who picked it?" asks Marcy. She offers her finger to Kaja and Kaja grabs it as tight as her little blue hand can squeeze. "Well, she not afraid of strangers."

"You're strange all right," teases Shepard. "I did, why? Surprised, Marcy?"

Sipping her beer, the N7 officer replies, "Nah, Nothing about you surprises me, Shepard. Not anymore. You did when we first met. You where so cocky and full of yourself. Then the drill instructor got into your face." She sips on her beer again. "That stopped the cockiness for about a month."

Leia rolls her eyes at Marcy. "I'm cocky? Hah! That's rich coming from someone who beat the record on the sniper range and boasted how you were going to beat it for a week before the final test."

Liara walks over and takes Kaja from Leia's arms when Kaja starts fussing. She walks into the kitchen to warm a bottle for Kaja. The asari returns to the living room and sits in the chair with Kaja in her arms sucking on a bottle.

Stretching her arms out, Marcy says, "Hey, I can't help it if I'm the best sniper in the Alliance. And don't forget I did beat your sim today." She points her finger at Shepard when she mentions beating the sim.

"The Rannoch sim?" asks Liara.

"Yea, the Rannoch sim," replies Marcy. She turns to the asari, saying, "Did she really do that? Or is Leia full of it?" Marcy turns to wink at Shepard. Leia's never lied to her before and she really doubts she'll start now.

A prideful grin appears on Dr. T'Soni's face. Only one thing gives her more joy then confirming Shepard's accomplishments during the war. That one thing is, her two-month-old daughter Kaja. As scared as Liara was watching Shepard dodge and roll away from the Reaper's beam, she's proud of her bondmate's courage and fortitude. "Yes, she did. Shepard did several harrowing missions. That was one of many."

Marcy sits on the couch, grabs a coaster on the coffee table and puts her mug on it. "So, Liara, tell me what did you do to get Shepard to settle down?" Leaning back with her arm on the back of the couch and her right ankle resting on her left thigh, Marcy gives Liara a friendly smile and a wink.

"I'm not sure if I actually did anything." Liara shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't think she put any type of pressure on Leia to settle down. Liara thinks Shepard had her mind made up about that before the Reapers attacked Earth. _Why would Leia have bought the rings before we attacked the Cerberus base if she didn't have her mind already made up?_

"Hmm." Marcy rubs her chin trying to figure the asari out. Is she being coy with her and not saying or is she being sincere with her answer.

Marcy and Liara continue talking, Leia goes into the kitchen to get herself a scotch. She leans against the wall, sipping her drink, watching Liara and Marcy interact with each other. A smirk appears on Shepard's face when she reenters the living room. "Marcy, she didn't do anything. I was ready to move on to the next phase of my life. I bought the rings before the war was over and I got them on the Citadel, so that should tell you something."

"It does. I'm happy for you, Leia. I really am," says Marcy. She glances at Shepard then to her asari wife. She wonders how often they go out to the club and if Leia has learned how to dance yet. Last she knew, Leia was a horrible dancer. "So, tell me something, Liara. Does Leia still dance like a board?"

"A board? What do you mean?" asks Liara. She glances over to Leia, who rolls her eyes and facepalms at Marcy's comment. The asari get up and puts Kaja in the bassinet.

Chuckling, Marcy answers, "I mean stiff. Not like this." Marcy gets up and moves away from the couch and does a few dance moves which flow to a rhythm unlike Shepard's dancing.

A huge grin appears on Liara's face when she watches Marcy tease Shepard about her bad dancing. "How long are you in town for, Marcy?"

Sitting back on the couch, so she can drink her beer, Marcy answers, "I was going to leave for Los Angeles tomorrow to spend some time with my sister. But seeing Shepard again makes me want to stay for a few days before seeing my sister." She looks over to the Spectre sitting next to her. "Mind if I hang out with you for a couple of days, Leia? I have a hotel room for tonight."

"You'll have to sleep on the couch. Sorry, no extra bed. Save your money and stay here tonight, Marcy." replies the red-haired woman.

"Twist my arm, will ya. Fine, I'll mooch off of ya for a few days. Sure you don't mind?" Commander Thomas wants to make sure Liara is okay with her staying with them. She's yet to say anything, but her demeanor says to the N7 officer, she's okay with her staying.

Leia finishes her scotch. She takes the empty glass to the kitchen and says when she returns to the living room, "We should go and get your stuff from the hotel. Liara, you want me to pick something up to eat?"

Liara shakes her head, "No, I'll cook something. Is there anything you don't like or can't have, Marcy?"

"Nope, I can eat anything and I've yet to find any type of food I don't like," says Marcy before she downs the last of her beer. She takes the glass to the kitchen. "Where's the head?"

"Down the hall first door on the left," answers Leia before she gives Liara a full kiss on the lips. "You okay with Marcy staying here?"

"Why do you think I asked how long she was in town for?" asks T'Soni. She leans enough to kiss Leia passionately. "How does fish sound?"

Shepard smiles at the love of her life. "Sounds good. Give us an hour before starting it. If I know Marcy, we'll sit and chat for a while before coming back." Leia looks at Kaja sleeping her the bassinet. She want to pick her daughter up and give her a big kiss, but all that will do is wake Kaja up. "Liara, she is so beautiful."

Dr. T'Soni grins at her bondmate. "I know she is." Liara picks Kaja up to take her to her crib. As soon as Kaja feels her body move, she wakes up and starts crying. "Shh, shh, little one."

Leia kisses Kaja on her crest, "I love you, Kaja."

Marcy reenters the living room in time to see Leia's interaction with her daughter. It brings a smile to her face. Shepard looks very happy which makes Marcy happy. It's good to see because Marcy wasn't sure if Shepard would ever settle down. One thing about Shepard, she never does things half way, it's either full steam ahead or not at all. If the sim of Rannoch is remotely close to what Leia was doing during the war, it was full steam ahead.

Liara is different from most asari Marcy has met over the years. She isn't sure what it is, but Liara is different. Her understanding is Dr. T'Soni is a Prothean expert and was the one who found the blueprints for the Crucible on Mars. There are several Prothean artifacts around the apartment. Yet, she fought alongside Shepard. An interesting couple and a very happy one too.

"I'm ready when you are, Leia," says Marcy as she heads towards the front door. She has what seems like a million more questions for her friend. Some questions she'd rather have Shepard alone than with her family.

Shepard follows Marcy to the door and the two N7 officers leave the apartment. One thing Liara notices when they leave is they both walk the same and in step with each other. She likes the blond-haired woman. Liara thinks she's a lot like Shepard and opposite at the same time. She can see why they're friends and hopes they become as close as they were before they lost touch. At times, Liara thinks Shepard lost more than those two years. Leia's closest friends served with her on the Normandy and Marcy is the first person she's met who was friends with Shepard before she was assigned on the Normandy. She puts Kaja down in her crib then heads to the kitchen to see what she can make to go with the fish.

Marcy and Leia finish their talk about Marcy's squad on the way to the hotel. The Staff Commander tells her a story about a krogan named Krent and their mission on Noveria during a blizzard. They couldn't see more than a meter or two at best and the krogan went into his blood rage from killing a bunch of Cerberus troopers then got on the radio to complain he couldn't see anything because of the storm and needed backup. Despite the weather conditions and the krogan's blind rage, they completed their mission to upload Cerberus decryption keys.

Instead of getting Marcy's things and leaving, they sit and talk more. The one thing Marcy wants to know is for Shepard to connect these dots. If she got spaced and woke up on the Cerberus station, how did Cerberus get her body? Who gave it to them or did they steal it? Marcy heard rumors about how Shepard's remains were missing and maybe she wasn't dead. She never believed that rumor, but maybe part of it was true.

Leia explains the best she can without telling Marcy about the Shadow Broker's involvement. She's worried Marcy might want to do something about it, so she leaves the yahg out of it. She explains how Liara got a tip that the Blue Suns were making a deal to sell her remains to the Collectors. The angry look on Marcy's face tells Shepard, she's right on leaving the yahg out of it. Marcy's look softens when Leia says it was Liara who gave her to Cerberus.

After seeing how much Leia loves Liara and vice-versa, Marcy isn't surprised when Leia says it was Liara who gave her remains to Cerberus. What does surprise her is what Shepard tells her next. Leia does the best she can to explain what Cerberus did to bring her back. because she doesn't remember any of it nor know any of the details. The only thing Shepard does know is she has many cybernetics and those implants probably saved her life after the Citadel explosed. Leia hopes Marcy takes everything she is saying in stride. She wants to renew their friendship. Marcy was always fun to hang out with and that hasn't changed.

Leia has changed and Marcy has noticed it. What hasn't changed is Shepard's core values. She's still the cocky recruit she met when they were eighteen. The attitude is well-earned now and more subtle. Marcy wasn't sure what to expect when she decided to talk to Shepard in Rio while on leave instead of answering her questions via vid or text message. She is glad she came to Rio though. Leia is the same person with different goals. Marcy respects and understands that. Marcy contacts her sister in LA to let her know about the change in plans.

Shepard contacts Garrus to see if he is able to take a few hours off to come to Rio for a sniping contest with Marcy included. Unfortunately, he is unable to get away, but does ask for a rain-check. Marcy is up for the challenge and will show the turian who is the best sniper. Poor Garrus, thinks Leia because this time she won't miss on purpose. Not with Marcy partaking in the contest.

They finally grab Marcy's things and head back to Leia's apartment. On the way back, Marcy has Shepard stop at a market to get some more beer and snack food. It's still early in the evening, but the nights always seem to grow long when Shepard and Thomas are together. Neither doubt tonight will be any different.

Leia notices on the way back to the apartment after stopping at the market how much she has missed Marcy and is glad she came to Rio. She also notices how things between them just fall into place. It's like they've never lost contact. Leia finds it easy to talk to Marcy about things. Marcy understand more than most what it's like being N7 and the pressures of command.

Maybe the things their drill instructors said to them are true. Bonds forged during conflicts are hard to break. Nothing seems to get between the two friends. Not time, death, nor Cerberus. It's another thing Shepard is thankful for. Now that Marcy knows Leia is CO of the Villa, she will visit more often. With Marcy planning on retiring by the end of the year, she'll have more time to visit. Leia and Marcy feel their friendship is rekindling and that is what both officers want. To top it all off, Marcy and Liara get along.

–

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys this story. The things I mention I have seen done in MP. Either I've done them or seen others do them. The names mentioned are names of my MP characters. Including Marcy, the N7 Infiltrator.

I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to review my work or enjoys it enough to add it to their faves list and the like. Thank you.

Someone asked about the Kaja-centered story and when will I start that one. Well, good news for you. Chapter 1 is next week. You'll have to wait until next week to see the story's theme. I'll say this much, Kaja, Cass, and their three kids live two houses from Liara. ;)

Like with "New Beginnings" you will get one chapter a week. I know you want more, but the last few chapters I have done have taken me longer than a week to write. I am not done with it and I'm not sure how many chapters it will be yet.


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